1 John 2:1-14 (Teaching)

[0:00] So we'll be back in 1st John this morning. Look at 1st John. We wrapped up the first chapter last week, which is only 10 verses long.

[0:11] We wrapped that up in a couple of weeks, but we'll start in chapter 2 this morning, which is almost three times as long as the first chapter is.

[0:21] There's 29 verses. I certainly don't intend to make it through all 29 verses this morning. I've gotten my head how far I would like to get. I can't promise that we will get that far.

[0:34] But last week when we wrapped up the first chapter, 1st John, the last two verses of it, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[0:48] If we say then that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. We need to keep those two verses in mind as we slide on into the second chapter of 1st John here.

[1:03] So we'll begin chapter 2 of 1st John, the first verse, says, My little children, these things right eye unto you that ye sin not. We'll stop right there for a second.

[1:16] This is, I mean, if this verse didn't continue, this would be an awful verse. I write these things unto you that ye sin not.

[1:28] What things? Well, the things before that he had written, and the things that are upcoming that he's about to write. He's writing these things to us that we sin not.

[1:39] That's a condemning line. It really is. Because my goodness, we read that and we think, well, I'm not supposed to sin. And folks, we're not supposed to sin.

[1:51] We weren't created to sin. God didn't create us just so we could live here in the world and live as we want and do as we want, enact as we want, say as we want.

[2:04] We weren't created to sin. This chapter begins. He says, I write unto you that ye sin not. And if this verse didn't continue, it would condemn us even more.

[2:17] But thank God it does. And if any man sinned, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous. So we have this first part of the verse.

[2:27] He writes these things unto us that we sin not. He says, but if any man does sin and we will sin, say lost a life, we will sin in our lives, in our actions, our speech and everything else about us, we will sin.

[2:46] He says, if any man sinned, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous. Notice that he refers to Jesus Christ as the righteous.

[2:57] I don't believe that John just threw that in there trying to take up space on a parchment when he was writing this. He's saying we have an advocate with the Father. We have a mediator.

[3:08] We have someone at the Father's right hand according to the scriptures that is pleading our case. Our case was really played on Calvary. It was played there on the cross.

[3:21] But Jesus Christ lives now. You're reading Romans 5 that if we were reconciled to the Father through His death, how much more can we be reconciled by His life?

[3:33] And that's present tense there, meaning His life now, the life that He currently has. What life does Jesus Christ currently have? Sitting at the right hand being my advocate and being your advocate.

[3:45] Arguing our case, or not arguing our case, but pleading our case before God. When we sin, we have an advocate with the Father. John says, I write these things to you that you sinned, not in other words, I'm writing this to you as a guide.

[3:59] That's something that you're to go by. But if you do sin, we have an advocate with the Father and he refers to that advocate as Jesus Christ the righteous. Notice he doesn't say anything about us being righteous.

[4:13] It is Jesus Christ that is righteous. When God, without Jesus Christ, when God looks down on me, if I didn't have Jesus, he'd see nothing but filth.

[4:24] He'd see sin. He'd see wickedness. He would see evil. He would see all of these things that we see in the Scripture. But when I got saved, the righteousness of Jesus Christ was imputed unto me.

[4:38] And so when God, the Father looks down on me, Jesus Christ, my advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, his righteousness is all that God sees on me. And I praise God for that.

[4:50] Like I said this first verse, the very beginning line of it, it's very condemning. But praise God, it don't end with that line. He says, he writes to us that we sin not.

[5:01] But if any man does sin, we have an advocate with the Lord and Jesus Christ the righteous. Verse two, and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

[5:18] He is the propitiation for our sins. Just on a side note, this word propitiation is not a word that is exclusive to the Scriptures.

[5:30] A lot of people think that it is. This is actually a word that was commonly used in the Greek worship of their false deities. Their propitiation, though, was to abuse God or their gods.

[5:44] They would go to the altars of their gods. They would go to the temples of their gods. If they thought that their gods were upset with them, they would take a propitiation to their God, basically robbing their God to work in their favor is how it worked with them.

[5:59] But and you got to consider here John's time, the time that he was writing this in. The culture was heavily influenced by Greek culture.

[6:11] And so he says that he is Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

[6:23] And there's a particular group of people that don't particularly like this verse of Scripture, because it's hard to work around with folks. The Bible plainly states that Jesus Christ, when Jesus Christ died, he died for the sins of the entire world.

[6:38] He didn't die for just a few. He didn't die for a couple of hundred or a couple of hundred thousand or a couple of million. That sacrifice was made once and for all for every living human being, everyone that would that would believe and everyone that would not believe on Jesus Christ.

[6:57] He died for the sins of the entire world. He is the propitiation for our sins. He's the offering. He's the gift. He is the gift from God. God gave himself as a gift and Jesus Christ for the remission, for the blotting out and for the washing away of our sins.

[7:16] Jesus Christ the righteous is our propitiation is the propitiation for our sins, but not for ours only. So don't and I think John might have added this in here.

[7:26] So we didn't get too high minded in our salvation, not for ours only, but for the sins of the entire world. I believe it was Spurgeon that said that it's a patent fact that Jesus Christ died for the entire world so that none of us could say, well, he died for Peter and he died for Paul, but he did not die for me.

[7:47] Folks, that is not the case. Jesus Christ died for the for the worst people. He died for those that are at the bottom of the barrel. He died for the prostitutes and the drug dealers and the alcoholics just as much as he died for those that have told a few little white lies and they're alive.

[8:04] He died for all because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That sacrifice was made once. It was made for all and it was made for the entire world. Everyone that has lived his living and will live in the future.

[8:18] He is the propitiation for our sins. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

[8:33] But whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby I know we that we are in him. Back up to verse three.

[8:45] And hereby do we know that we love him, that we love him. And hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. This is very reminiscent of what John would heard Jesus cross say himself back in John chapter 13 when Jesus says, if you love me keep my commandments.

[9:06] If you love me you're going to keep my commandments in other words. You're going to do as I say you're going to be obedient if you love me. He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

[9:20] But whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby I know we that we are in him. How many of us keep the word of God perfectly? None of us.

[9:31] That's why I'm so tickled that verse one states what it does. That he writes these things to us that we sin not. But if any man does sin we have an advocate in Jesus Christ the righteous.

[9:44] None of us are going to keep the word perfectly. None of us are going to keep the law of God perfectly. It is an impossibility for a human being that is alive right now or that has ever lived to perfectly keep the law of God.

[9:58] That's the entire reason that Jesus Christ had to come is because we were incapable of satisfying God. We were incapable of keeping his laws that he laid down for us the moral laws that were given up on Mount Sinai.

[10:12] Not to mention all the other things that God spoke of in the Old Testament. We were incapable of doing these things. So if any man sin we do have an advocate in Jesus Christ the righteous.

[10:24] It says whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected. Now folks this word perfected here simply means mature. It doesn't mean that it's made perfect in us just yet it certainly doesn't mean that we are made perfect because we do still sin.

[10:43] Even as born again Christians we do still sin. So but it's talking about a mature way here.

[10:56] The love of God has been matured in one that keeps the word of God. And I thank God for that the longer we walk with God the more closely we walk with God.

[11:10] Then the more so we should be doing our best to keep his commandments. New brand new born again Christians I don't know what your all's experience was but I know what mine was when I got saved.

[11:21] All I knew is that I was a sinner and that something changed in me. God changed my heart. God cleaned up my heart and the very next thing he cleaned up on me was my mouth and so on down the line.

[11:35] You know and every one of us probably had a similar experience as far as that goes. But I certainly had not matured in the love of God.

[11:46] Now hadn't matured in his word at that point. These things come with time and I mean maturity comes with time. Us the getting older that comes with time.

[11:57] I mean nobody is born and is 20 years older the day after. You know it takes time to mature like that. It's like my boys when they were growing up I tried to tell them and you all probably tried to tell your children raising them if you have children.

[12:13] You know I told them everything I tell you is from experience and that experience comes from maturing through life. And you know our experience we hope will help others along the way and sometimes it does sometimes it does it.

[12:27] Sometimes my boys call me and they say you were right but I had to find out for myself. But either way this word perfected here in verse five is not talking about us being perfected when we get safe.

[12:45] We're not perfected we're promised perfection in the future. We're promised perfection in the resurrection of our bodies. But while we're still living in these bodies that we were born with these bodies that are cursed and they're sinful and they're wicked and they're fleshly and they're carnal.

[13:04] Everything about our flesh is wicked and sinful. As long as we're still in this flesh I promise you we will still sin whether we believe it or not whether we like it or not this is what the scripture teaches.

[13:20] But thank God again for verse one that we have an advocate with the Father. If any man does sin we have an advocate with the Father. Verse six he that saith he about any he abouteth in him all to himself also to walk even as he walked I have heard this verse myself taking way out of context and say well it says that we should walk as Jesus walked how did Jesus walk?

[13:49] Well Jesus walked on the water. I've heard people say this and I've seen people attempt it in videos maybe you have too if you pulled them up on YouTube if you have access to that.

[14:02] But I've seen this very verse take him way out of context folks this is not what John is saying at all says he he that saith he abouteth in him himself also to walk even as he walked how did Jesus walk? Jesus walked upright Jesus walked righteously Jesus walked holy Jesus walked in obedience to the Father this is what in the context that we're reading it this is what John was referring to he's not talking about we need to walk with the same foot angle or our own water or anything like that you know he's talking about how Jesus walked he walked in close relation to the Father and the more mature we get in this thing the more perfect as the scripture here puts it the more perfect that we grow in this thing or mature the more closely we should walk with the Father the more closely we should walk with him the more obedient we should become folks when you when you read in the scriptures about the wrath of God and the fury of God and the indignation of God when you read these things in the scripture it should cause us as born again to believers to walk that much more closely with God because that shows his power and it shows how mighty he is and it shows what he's capable of we and I'm not saying that that should scare us into the arms of God folks I'm saved already I'm just saying that that these things show the power and the holiness and the righteousness of God and when we read these things and we hear about these things preached and taught it should it should cause us to walk the more closely with the God who saved us he either saith he about him or himself also so to walk even as he will brethren I write no new commandment under you but an old commandment which you had from the beginning the old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning again a new commandment are right under you which thing is true in him and in you because darkness is past and the true light now shines he that saith he is in the light and hadith his brother is in darkness even until now he that loved with his brother abouteth in the light and there is none occasional stumbling in him but he that hadith his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whether he goeth because that darkness has blinded his eyes and we'll back back up again to verse seven brethren are right no new commandment under you but an old commandment which he had from the beginning the old commandment is the word which he had heard from the beginning now which which beginning are we talking about here here what commandment are we talking about here and there's some debate in the theological world as far as this goes you can actually go all the way back to the law you can go all the way back to Exodus 20 if you want to see if you want to see the love of God in the Ten Commandments and not only the love of God toward us in that God was perfectly capable of keeping those

[17:27] Ten Commandments he gave the Ten Commandments to his people the Jews there at the bottom of Mount Sinai yes but they they showed us just how incapable we were of keeping those laws because everybody there at the base of that mountain when they heard those commandments sort of shook and feared because everyone there had broken at least one of those commandments however on the flip side of that God was and is completely capable of keeping all of those commandments that that was demonstrated in Jesus Christ therefore the love of God is demonstrated through the Ten Commandments but when you look at those commandments the first four of them show how we are to act toward God how we are to love God and the latter part of those commandments show how we are to love our neighbors we're and how we're to treat our neighbors we ourselves are nowhere in there except on how we are to treat others and to treat God and to love others and to love God so we can go back that far yes but what is John here referring to I believe he's talking about the same word that he was at the beginning of chapter one of this letter that he's writing here the same word which is the word become flesh that dwelt among us in chapter one of the gospel of John the word being Jesus

[18:49] Christ this was a new commandment that Jesus Christ himself spoke and he phrased it just like this he said I'm giving you a new commandment that you love one another and and by this all men shall know that you're my disciples how by what that you love one another that you love one another folks this was this would have been a foreign notion to the mainly Jewish audience that Jesus had the mainly Jewish audience that John was likely writing to here it was it was an outside notion to them of love because all they had was the Old Testament and they saw over and over the wrath of God and the fury of God and and all these other things that we read about now all of a sudden John being the as he's referred to not in the scriptures but as he's referred to commonly the apostle of love the one that wrote the gospel of love suddenly suddenly this this guy that these

[19:51] Jews worship these Jews believed him for the most part this guy is all sudden all about love and this would have been a foreign notion to them which says I write no new commandment to you but an old commandment which you heard from the beginning from the beginning of what me personally I believe that John was talking about from the beginning of Jesus's ministry from the beginning of the preaching of the gospel when Jesus Christ come out of the wilderness and repent you for the kingdom of heaven is a hand John the Baptist preaching the same thing gospel of repentance because the kingdom of heaven was a hand the old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning again a new commandment are writing to you which thing is true in him and in you because darkness is past and the true light now shine darkness is past and the true light now shine what is the true light the true light is the gospel of Jesus Christ it's Jesus Christ himself he is the true light and he he was the word of God become flesh and dwelt among men he is the true light that's shined in the darkness we talked about it here last week or the week before in the first chapter of first John how uh when when the Jews uh when they saw when

[21:17] Moses went up on Mount Sinai I mean it was dark and he come down in a storm in a tempest uh God did and and uh you know the scriptures it talks about how God he dwells in the darkness and so now Jesus Christ has shown and revealed God under these people he has done this through his ministry he's done this through his teaching and through his preaching he's done it in his in his very walk and his way of life he has revealed God under these people so God is no longer in darkness to the Jews and certainly not to the Gentiles either but he has shown in full light and he has shown fully in Jesus Christ whom John said I've heard him I've walked with him my hands have handled him and these other things that we read about in the first chapter of first John says this is the true light the darkness is past and the true light now shine him he that says he is in light and hate if his brother is in darkness even until now folks that's I mean that's just plain cut and dry that's plain black and white we cannot claim Christianity and hate our brother it's an impossibility we can't claim Jesus Christ and hate our brother now listen John here is being very specific in his wording and I don't think it was an accident that he was doing so and I'm not saying that we're to hate the world love that neighbor as I self-apply just as much now as it did in Exodus 20 and it applies just as much now as it did 2,000 years ago when Jesus said that that was the second greatest commandment in all of scripture we are to love our neighbor as ourself but John here is referring specifically to brethren and I do not believe it was an accident this is one of the reasons church splits are so hurtful because there's you know there's seemingly hatred that's involved when these things happen whether it splits two ways or three ways or five ways there there's a hatred that's bowled up there one one toward another or one group toward another group or whatever the case is John specifically referring to the brother here says he that sayeth he is in light and hate if his brother is in darkness even until now in other words you never had it to begin with is what John saying if you hate your brother you have never dwelt in the light it's an impossibility is what John is saying here in this verse he that love with his brother abideth in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him praise God for that he that love this brother abideth in the light that word abideth is present perfect tense in the original scriptures and it's a perfect tense in our

[24:07] English Bibles here meaning that you continually abide in the light meaning that you're continuing to do that he that love with his brother abideth in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him why is that well he that abides in darkness if you're in darkness you don't know what's in front of you you don't know what's beside you you don't know what's behind you you're going to be stumbling all around i've preached it several times or mentioned it while preaching uh that uh i believe it's in proverbs as Solomon wrote that uh that those that dwell in darkness or those that walk in darkness know if not at what they stumble and they can stumble right over the gospel and not even realize that they've done so why because they're in such darkness they're blinded so bad but here john says in first john chapter two he says he that abideth in light uh or he that loves his brother abideth in the light and there is no occasion of stumbling in him if we're continually abiding in the light folks there's nothing there's nothing that's going to get in our way that we are not aware of there's no occasion of stumbling in us as long as we're abiding in the light and what is that light the light is the gospel and the light is jesus christ who is the gospel of god but he that hateeth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and know if not whether he go because that darkness has blinded his eyes this just kind of reiterates what i just said if he hates his right but he that hadith is brother is in darkness that's present tense and walketh in darkness uh continues in present tense and know if not whether he goes continues in present tense with that because that darkness had blinded is eye so he gives three watch there he gives three wise he that hadith his brother walks in darkness or is in darkness and walks in darkness and know with not where he goes. That's the three what's the thing is the why because that darkness has blinded his eyes because the very thing that he is dwelling in the very thing that that he is that he is abiding in that's what's blinded his eyes and folks we know from 1st John 1st John chapter 1 that God is light and in him is no darkness at all so if we're abiding in God we're abiding in him and there is no darkness in him then we have no occasion of stumbling in us however if we're stumbling around and we're hating our brother if we're upset at churches if we if we look at a church and we want it to fail if we have any of these things in our hearts folks i don't think to love a god in them folks it can't be according to what i'm reading here it's an impossibility for that to happen we cannot look at a church now i'm not talking about some heretical church that's out there teaching false doctrine i'm talking about a church that's led by a godly man who has godly people on the inside of it and somebody got mad because somebody didn't use their colored picket uh toothpicks at the church picnic or they had to bring home a slice of pie nobody ate all their pie at the church picnic or silly stuff like this and somebody got all puffed up and mad and proud and said i'm just gonna go find another church and they want that church to fail at that point i said i hope their attendance gets so low they have to shut the doors and i've heard people say those very things and it makes me wonder if they ever really had it or not if they hate their brother so bad if they hate a point of congregating so bad that they want to fail and want to shut their shut their doors and disperse those people did they ever really have the love of god in them me personally from what i'm reading here in this scripture they were about in darkness the whole time they were in that church and they're still abiding in darkness according to what i read here in the scripture and i understand god is the ultimate judge of that but if if what john is saying here is true and i'm and i'm interpreting it correctly they never had it to begin with they were not walking in life they were not walking with god they were not loving their brother and they certainly weren't loving their neighbors and having an attitude like that verse 12 i write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name sake now folks we've already read in verse one of chapter two he writes these things into us that we sin not so now we're reading i write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name sake folks we have sin before we were born again we had sin then after since we've been born again since we've been saved on the blood of jesus christ since we've been cleansed by the blood of jesus christ we've had more sin since that's happened john says i write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake you remember that children of god remember that your sins aren't forgiven you because you were good your sins aren't forgiven you because god thought that you deserved it your sins aren't forgiven you because you begged and because you pleaded and because you done anything your sins are forgiven for the names sake of jesus christ and paul reiterates this in the book of Ephesians when he says forgiving one another even as god for christ's sake had forgiven you it ain't got anything to do with you it ain't got anything to do with your goodness your forgiven of your sins because god is good not because you are i'm forgiven of my sins because god is good not because i'm good because i can assure you i wasn't good before i was saved and i ain't a whole lot better now that i am safe and none of us are we're all still filthy wretched sinners that are in need of a savior and folks i have that savior in jesus christ and he is my advocate with the father and i praise god for it i write unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning i write unto you young men because you have overcome the wicked one i write unto you little children because you have known the father john here goes through a little blister people who says i write unto you fathers because you have known him when you think of when you think of fathers here especially in this context here that john is writing writing to he says i've uh i write unto you father because you have known him that is from the beginning so you've known him that is from the you've known the eternal one you've known the ancient of days you've known the one that gave moses the law you've known the one that genesis uh chapters one and two talks about the creation of the world you've known the one that spoke the entire universe into existence and he's talking to the fathers here he's talking to the elders he's talking to the ones that have got some experience with god under their belts then he goes on and says i says i've written i write unto you young men because you have overcome the wicked one says the fathers have known him from the beginning the young man he says you have overcome the wicked one you've overcome the adversary you've overcome satan but folks we need to remember that it is not in our own strength and it is not our own doing that we can overcome satan it is through the doing of jesus christ he is the one that defeated satan he's the one that defeated death and hell and the grave he is the one that done it and but john here is writing he says i've written to you fathers because you've known him i'm writing to you young men because you have defeated uh uh the the wicked one i write unto you little children because you have known the father he's going through a list of different stages through life i'm talking about physically here uh literally he refers to the little children at the end of a woman or little children we're dependent we're and we have to be dependent we depend on our fathers we depend on our mothers or whomever it is that's raising us we depend on them for clothing for food for shelter for guidance we depend on them for protection we depend on them for everything the young men they're talking about here who do we send to fight on the front lines he says you defeated the wicked one we don't send little children to fight on front lines and we don't send the old men to fight on the front lines we send the young men to do these things i'm talking about physical battles here i'm talking about war and fighting that goes on even nowadays folks i mean we we don't send we don't send the older people in our military into battle we send the young young men and the young women who are more capable of overtaking the wicked one of overtaking the foes and folks the church should be built in the same way though the older people can give advice to the younger people of how they overcame the wicked one and the and the the little children uh that john is writing to here they can see what the young men are doing they can see what the young women are doing they can see the facts that they're having with the wicked one and with the adversary and they can and they can witness these things and then but the older folks the fathers here that john referring to they can be a witness to the goodness of god they can be a witness to the mercy and to the guidance of god to those younger folks that are out there fighting uh on the front lines and then the younger folks are watching those or the little children are watching the younger folks in this seemingly eternal fight between good and evil that's going on in the world but praise god it won't be eternal hey one day god gonna put an end to it one of these days god's gonna snuff out this fight one more verse here and we'll wrap it up i've written unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning i've written unto you young men because you're strong and the word of god abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one he just reiterates two of the three classes of people if you want to call it that two of the three uh uh casts of people that he wrote about there i've written to your fathers because you've known him that is from the beginning he says i've written to you young men because you're strong you're strong and and the word of god abideth in you folks that's why they're strong because the word of god abides in them why do we have such weak christians a lot of people blame it on prayer a lot of people are the lack there at all i should say and yeah that's a playing factor but a christian that doesn't know the word of god a christian doesn't read the word of god christian that you know they just they hear what they hear on sunday morning maybe sunday evening or midweek and that's all they get that makes a weak christian that'll make a weaker christian than a weak prayer life will if you don't know the word of god because i promise you the more you have your nose in this book and the closer you're getting to god through his word the more of a prayer life you will have why because you're reading about the god that saved your soul you're reading about the god that left this book left this instruction manual for you and that will cause you to go to him in prayer and sometimes your prayer may not be anything but praise to god prayer doesn't necessarily mean we have to ask something of the father anytime we go to god it's considered prayer whether it's in praise or whether it's making supplications to asking things off but anytime we go to god it is it is through prayer that we do so jesus christ is our intercessor and he's the only mediator that's between god and man and he is the one that takes our prayer to god i understand

[36:36] Romans 8 and understand the holy spirit has this part in that as well and i praise god that the holy spirit can understand moment and groanings that even i can't understand he can take those things unto god but ultimately it's jesus christ who makes those things known unto god the father because without jesus christ god the father wouldn't hear you and he wouldn't hear me he would have nothing to do with us when we'd still be left here in our sand anyway i got as far as i wanted to get and i've raised god for that